Mira Costa Girl Spikers Train Sights on State Championship

Amid the wild celebration after last Saturday’s championship victory by Mira Costa over Corona Del Mar for the Southern Section girls 5-A volleyball title, setter Piper Hahn had time to think of the Mustangs’ next goal: the state title.

“No team has won the Southern Section and state titles in the same year since my sister’s year,” Hahn said, referring to 1985 when sister Lindsey was playing at Mira Costa. “Now it’s our turn.”

Mira Costa (25-0) opened the state tournament Tuesday night at home with a 15-5, 15-1, 15-10 win against Chatsworth, the City Section runner-up to Palisades. At times, the Mustangs looked out of sync and slow against Chatsworth. The Chancellors scored all but three of their points in the third game on Mira Costa errors.

Not to worry, Mira Costa Coach Dae Lea Aldrich says. “We play to the level of competition, and the L.A. City Section is just not like the competition we see in the Southern Section,” Aldrich said. “We’ll be OK.”

Mira Costa plays Torrey Pines in the second round Saturday night at Redondo High. Should Mira Costa win, the semifinals are Tuesday against a Northern California opponent. The state finals are Dec. 2 at Cal State Fullerton.

Mira Costa is the No. 1 seed in the tournament, but Corona Del Mar (16-1) looms once again as a possible opponent. “I’m sure we’ll see them,” Aldrich said. “But this time I want to take them in three games. “

Last Saturday night the Sea Kings gave Mira Costa all the competition it could handle in an exciting match, finally losing, 15-5, 13-15, 15-10, 15-13, before a capacity crowd at Marina High in Huntington Beach.

Kristal Attwood led Mira Costa with 24 kills, including eight in the third game. Hahn had 45 assists, a season high.

Mira Costa’s defense was all over the floor digging Corona Del Mar spikes, turning sure points into good passes. Back-court specialists Rainy Chrisman and Jennifer Streatfield combined for 51 digs. Streatfield also had three service aces.

“We have been waiting for this moment for four years,” Streatfield said. “It feels great to win. Last year we came here and lost (to Corona Del Mar) and this year we weren’t going to be satisfied just to get here. We wanted to win.”

The key play in Saturday’s match came when Corona Del Mar was leading, 13-9, in the fourth game, and had outscored Mira Costa 11-2 since the Mustangs led 7-1. The Corona del Mar fans were screaming approval, but Mira Costa fought back.

“We didn’t give up on each other. We had worked too hard, “ Streatfield said.

Corona Del Mar’s Danielle Everrett went way up for a kill, but Attwood and Hahn blocked her spike, and suddenly the Mustangs were alive. With the Mira Costa fans chanting, “You can’t stop the machine!” the Mustangs scored six unanswered points and won the match.

“We deserve to be No. 1,” Aldrich said. “This victory is so sweet. They beat us last year, and now we got them. People will remember this for a long time.”

The Mustangs want to add a footnote in that memory: the state championship. “It was great to win this,” Streatfield said. “It would be even better if we could win state.”

Chadwick was eliminated from the state Division III playoffs Tuesday night by Sierra High of Tollhouse, 15-9, 15-11, 12-15, 15-13. Chadwick ended its season at 19-1. The Dolphins were the Southern Section Small Schools champions.